ethernal

Not sure what you mean. UA has lanes for all boarding zones for most gates, and then two lanes for gates that generally only service RJs with small gate areas. So not sure if you mean by "testing" you just saw one of the gates that primarily services RJs?

MS02113

UA recently announced that they're testing a new process that would abandon the one-lane-per-zone concept.

Kacee

It's already been rolled out at several airports.

fastflyer

SW has the most elegant solution -- have two clearly demarcated lanes with barriers, one for the "now boarding" zone and one for the "next boarding" zone. Have the GA ask passengers to line up according to the category flashing on an electronic board above the lane. The lanes then alternate, with the vacated lane being filled as the next zone boards. "First Class" then "Diamond" then "Platinum" then "Rows 15-20" etc. People would be more responsive if signs indicated who boards when -- indicated by something that they know, like status or seat number, not some arbitrary name like PREM or SKY or Zone 1. It also solves the gate lice problem -- only people from the lanes are allowed to board, either you line up or you don't board.

On Delta, I am often almost trampled when boarding in paid first class, by passengers who then disappear into economy. And not just one or two, literally a dozen people. This doesn't happen on AA, my primary domestic carrier.

Gig103

That has to do with Diamond Medallions getting to board with the First class cabin. on AA, they call CK, then First, then EXP. Depending on the gate agent sometimes there's barely a breath between each on AA though.

krazykanuck

I had my worst DL boarding experience in a while on Monday flying out of RSW. I was in First, but when the GA called for PREM there was no way to get to her since the Priority lane was clogged with SKY boarders, and she only waited maybe 20 seconds between calling PREM and then calling SKY

sethb

No. I did that once (once) when they cleared me early, because I happen to be a DM.

Usually, NRSA don't clear until most pax have boarded anyway.

puddinhead

Wired magazine looks at boarding this month.Airlines Won’t Dare Use the Fastest Way to Board Planes

southof30a

IMO, Delta should board PAID First Class ahead of Diamond Medallions.

sethb

I wonder (not really) which is a better description of you.

Actually, boarding DMs in Y makes the entire process faster: they're putting stuff away while F is boarding, so they don't add time to the Y part of the process.

Zorak

It shouldn't matter either way -- people in F, and DMs in Y, are not in competition for overhead space. So really neither group should care much whether they board together or separately and in what order.

sethb

The entire process is a little faster if they're shuffled together.

Gig103

Question about boarding. On AA we have a priority lane and I'm Group 4. I got to the gate Monday and they were up to Zone 6 (I was chilling in the LAS Cent lounge), but I was able to go up the empty priority lane and be boarded next. Is it like that with Delta?

sethb

Yes, if you're a high enough priority you can use the priority lane.

The problem is they use it for down to Zone 1, so if a PREM shows up during Zone 1 boarding, they don't get to bypass the line.

evergrn

Boarded a DL flight out of SEA. I was in zone 3. They'd called zone 2, and the flow of pax seemed to never end. This is not some huge aircraft (753). I just kept waiting, as did bunch of other folks. I saw a group of 6-7 Chinese pax going in. They all had rollerboards. Saw BP's for at least half of them... all zone 4 After seeing that, I just lined up at the back of the line. Saw that the person in front of me was also zone 4. I thought for sure those zone 4 Chinese pax were going to be turned back by the GA, but no. Is it possible that one of them was zone 2 and therefore the GA let all of them in? Maybe, but I doubt it and that really shouldn't happen anyways. The whole time I never heard announcement for zone 3 or zone 4. There was only a handful of overhead bin spaces remaining (at least up to my row ~40), and there must've been at least 30 people still boarding after me. I'm sure the last 20 or so pax were forced to gate-check their bags. It was as if zone 2 call was an invite to all pax including BE.